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scribe came, and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Matthew 8:19-20
Matthew 8 [14.] When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her. She got up and served him. When evening came, they brought to him many possessed with demons. He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases.” Now when Jesus saw great multitudes around him, he gave the order to depart to the other side.
Matthew 8 [19.] A scribe came, and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
Matthew 8 [20.] Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Matthew 8 [21.] Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.”
Meaning:
Jesus has just given the order to cross to the other side of the lake (Matthew 8:18). Before he leaves, two men speak to him about following. The first is a scribe who offers to go anywhere with him. Jesus does not turn him away, but he makes sure the man understands the cost. Following Jesus is not a path to comfort or status.
- “A scribe came”
Scribes were experts in the law of Moses, respected teachers who copied, studied and explained the Scriptures. Most scribes in the Gospels oppose Jesus, so it is remarkable that this one wanted to become his disciple. He called Jesus “Teacher,” the title a student would give to a rabbi. Disciples usually chose their rabbi and attached themselves to him. Jesus, by contrast, usually called his followers himself, as when he told the fishermen by the lake, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men” (Matthew 4:19). Here the scribe takes the initiative.
- “I will follow you wherever you go”
The offer sounds wholehearted. Yet the man may have imagined following a famous teacher whose miracles drew great crowds. Jesus knew what lay ahead: rejection, hardship and the cross. He later said, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).
- “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests”
Jesus points to the creatures of the countryside. Even foxes and birds have places to rest. But Jesus, during his ministry, had no settled home. He depended on the hospitality of others, traveled constantly, and was often rejected. John writes, “He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him” (John 1:11). The scribe must count the cost before he starts, just as Jesus taught that a builder should “first sit down and count the cost” (Luke 14:28).
- “The Son of Man”
This is the first time in Matthew that Jesus calls himself “the Son of Man,” the title he used more than any other. It recalls Daniel’s vision of “one like a son of man” who came “with the clouds of the sky” and received “dominion, and glory, and a kingdom” (Daniel 7:13-14). The contrast is striking: the one who will receive an everlasting kingdom has nowhere to lay his head. Paul describes the same humility when he says Christ “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7).
Luke records the same exchange on the road toward Jerusalem (Luke 9:57-58). The next would-be follower asks to bury his father first (Matthew 8:21-22).
The Significance of Matthew 8:19-20
- Counting the cost
Enthusiasm is good, but it must be joined with understanding. Jesus does not hide the cost of discipleship. Following him may mean giving up comfort, security or reputation. Yet those who follow him gain far more than they lose. Jesus promised, “If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I am, there will my servant also be” (John 12:26).
- A Savior who shares our hardships
The King of glory chose a life without a home. Believers who face poverty, displacement or loneliness can know that Jesus understands, and that their true home is with him. His homelessness was not a failure but a free choice, made out of love, so that he could bring many sons and daughters into the Father’s house.
Cross-References:
Luke 9:58: "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Luke’s parallel account.
Matthew 16:24: "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." The cost of following.
Daniel 7:13: "one like a son of man," The background of Jesus’ title.
Conclusion: In Matthew 8:19-20 a scribe eagerly offers to follow Jesus anywhere. Jesus answers that, unlike foxes and birds, the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. The exchange calls every would-be disciple to count the cost, and reveals the humility of the one who, though destined for an everlasting kingdom, chose a life of homelessness for our sake.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible